San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino (/sæn məˈriːnoʊ/ san-mə-ree-noh; Italian: Repubblica di San Marino, also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino), is a state situated on the Italian Peninsula on the eastern side of the Apennine Mountains. It is an enclave surrounded by Italy. Its size is just over 61 km (24 sq mi) with an estimated population of over 30,000. Its capital is the City of San Marino. San Marino has the smallest population of all the members of the Council of Europe.

San Marino is the oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world, as the continuation of the monastic community founded on 3 September 301, by stonecutter Marinus of Rab. Legend has it that Marinus left Rab, then the Roman colony of Arba, in 257 when the future emperor, Diocletian, issued a decree calling for the reconstruction of the city walls of Rimini, which had been destroyed by Liburnian pirates.

The constitution of San Marino, enacted in 1600, is the world's oldest constitution still in effect. The country's economy mainly relies on finance, industry, services and tourism. It is one of the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of GDP (per capita), with a figure comparable to some of the more developed Italian regions, such as Lombardy and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. San Marino is considered to have a highly stable economy, with one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, no national debt and a budget surplus.

According to tradition, Saint Marinus left the island of Rab in present-day Croatia with his lifelong friend Leo, and went to the city of Rimini as a mason. After the Diocletianic Persecution following his Christian sermons, he escaped to the nearby Monte Titano, where he built a small church and thus founded what is now the city and state of San Marino. The official date of foundation of the Republic is 3 September 301.

By the mid-5th century, a community was formed; because of its relatively inaccessible location and its poverty, it has succeeded, with a few brief interruptions, in maintaining its independence. In 1631, its independence was recognized by the Papacy.

The advance of Napoleon's army in 1797 presented a brief threat to the independence of San Marino, but the country was saved from losing its liberty thanks to one of its Regents, Antonio Onofri, who managed to gain the respect and friendship of Napoleon. Thanks to his intervention, Napoleon, in a letter delivered to Gaspard Monge, scientist and commissary of the French Government for Science and Art, promised to guarantee and protect the independence of the Republic, offering to extend its territory according to its needs. The offer was declined by San Marino, fearing to provoke future revanchism that might threaten its freedom.

During the later phase of the Italian unification process in the 19th century, San Marino served as a refuge for many people persecuted because of their support for unification. In recognition of this support, Giuseppe Garibaldi accepted the wish of San Marino not to be incorporated into the new Italian state.

The government of San Marino made United States President Abraham Lincoln an honorary citizen. He wrote in reply, saying that the republic proved that "government founded on republican principles is capable of being so administered as to be secure and enduring."

20th century

During World War I, when Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary on 23 May 1915, San Marino remained neutral and Italy adopted a hostile view of Sammarinese neutrality, suspecting that San Marino could harbour Austrian spies who could be given access to its new radiotelegraph station. Italy tried to forcibly establish a detachment of Carabinieri in the Republic and then cut the Republic's telephone lines when it did not comply. Two groups of ten volunteers did, however, join Italian forces in the fighting on the Italian front, the first as combatants and the second as a Medical Corps operating a Red Cross field hospital. The existence of this hospital later caused Austria-Hungary to suspend diplomatic relations with San Marino.

From 1923 to 1943, San Marino was under the rule of the Sammarinese Fascist Party (PFS).

During World War II, San Marino remained neutral, although it had been wrongly reported to have declared war on the United Kingdom on 17 September 1940.

Three days after the fall of Benito Mussolini in Italy, PFS rule collapsed and the new government declared neutrality in the conflict. The Fascists regained power on 1 April 1944 but kept neutrality intact. Despite that, on 26 June 1944 San Marino was bombed by the Royal Air Force, which mistakenly believed that the country had been overrun by German forces and was being used to amass stores and ammunition. At least 35 people were killed in the operation. San Marino accepted thousands of civilian refugees when Allied forces went over the Gothic Line. In September 1944, it was briefly occupied by German forces, who were attacked by Allied forces in the Battle of San Marino. Allied troops withdrew from the country shortly afterwards.

San Marino had the world's first democratically elected communist government, which held office between 1945 and 1957 and again between 2006 and 2008.

San Marino is the world's smallest republic, although when Nauru gained independence in 1968 it challenged that claim, Nauru's land mass being only 21 km (8.1 sq mi). However Nauru's jurisdiction over its surrounding waters (431,000 km) is thousands of times greater than the territory of San Marino.

San Marino became a member of the Council of Europe in 1988 and of the United Nations in 1992. It is not a member of the European Union.

The Three Towers of San Marino are located on the three peaks of Monte Titano in the capital. They are depicted on both the Flag of San Marino and its coat of arms. The three towers are: Guaita, the oldest of the three (it was constructed in the 11th century); the thirteenth-century Cesta, located on the highest of Monte Titano's summits; and the fourteenth-century Montale, on the smallest of Monte Titano's summits, still privately owned.

San Marino has a famous cake known as Torta Di Tre Monti ("Cake of the Three Towers"), a layered wafer cake covered in chocolate.

Love Orchestra, a Gian Luca "Luke" Mazza new age music project, comes from the Republic of San Marino. During concerts overseas, the San Marino flag is shown on the stage.

University

The Università degli Studi della Repubblica di San Marino (University of the Republic of San Marino) is the main university, which includes the Scuola Superiore di Studi Storici di San Marino (Advanced School of Historical Studies), a distinguished research and advanced international study center governed by an international Scientific Committee coordinated by professor Luciano Canfora. Other important institutes are the Istituto Musicale Sammarinese (Sammarinese Musical Institute) and the Akademio Internacia de la Sciencoj San Marino or Accademia Internazionale delle Scienze San Marino (International Academy of Sciences San Marino). The latter is known for adopting Esperanto as the language for teaching and for scientific publications; further, it makes wide use of e-learning.

Italian author Umberto Eco has attempted to create a "university without physical structures" in San Marino.

Sport

San Marino, along with Italy, enjoy sports and football (soccer) is its most popular sport. Basketball and volleyball are also popular. The three sports have their own federations, the San Marino Football Federation, the San Marino Basketball Federation and the San Marino Volleyball Federation.

The San Marino Championship, founded under the auspices of the FSGC (San Marino Football Federation), is the premier footballing competition in San Marino. The fifteen teams that take part in the competition are split into two groups of eight and seven teams. The top three from each section at the end of the regular season progress into a semi-knockout style Championship Playoff. Prior to 2007, the playoff champion earned a spot in the preliminary rounds of the UEFA Cup. In 2007, UEFA granted San Marino a spot in the 1st Qualifying Round of the Champions League. The domestic cup winner also gets a spot in the UEFA Cup qualifying stages. 2007 league champions S.S. Murata was the first team to represent San Marino in the Champions League when they participated in the 2007–08 competition, losing to Finnish team Tampere United. San Marino also has a representative in the Italian system, with San Marino Calcio playing in the fourth tier of Italian football, Serie C2/B. San Marino play their home matches in the Sanmarinese at the Stadio Olimpico of Serravalle.

The San Marino national football team played its first unofficial international match in 1986, in which it suffered a 0–1 defeat to the Canadian Olympic team. Its first competitive outing was on 14 November 1990, a 0–4 loss against Switzerland in the European Championship qualifier. These defeats set the tone for most of the following outings of the team, who are regarded as easy victories in the qualifying sections of the European Championship and the World Cup.

They had a brief moment of glory when they faced England in a World Cup qualifier on 17 November 1993 and took the lead through Davide Gualtieri after just 8.3 seconds—still the fastest goal in World Cup competition. Until recently, San Marino's international record was one of almost total failure, with famous draws against Turkey and Latvia being the only partial successes in an international career that contains over seventy defeats. However, on the 29 April 2004, San Marino recorded their first ever win, with a 1–0 victory over Liechtenstein in an international friendly. Andy Selva scored the only goal in a close game that finally gave this tiny republic a footballing victory.

On 6 September 2006, San Marino suffered their biggest ever defeat, losing 13–0 to world giants Germany in the Stadio Olimpico. It was also the largest goal margin defeat in European Championship Qualifying history. In the same competition on 7 February 2007, they came within eight seconds of the best result in their history. They were level at 1–1 with the Republic of Ireland after ninety-four minutes when Stephen Ireland scored within eight seconds of the final whistle. The goal scored by San Marino was their European Qualifying first goal since losing 4–1 to Austria in 1998.

As of September 2011, San Marino is 203rd in the FIFA world rankings—jointly last with three other teams.

A Formula One race, the San Marino Grand Prix, was named after the state, although it did not take place there. It was held at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in the Italian town of Imola, about 100 km northwest of San Marino, along the Via Emilia. The race was etched in infamy after two fatal accidents occurred at the 1994 Grand Prix, when Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger were killed. The race was removed from the calendar in 2007.

The San Marino and Rimini's Coast motorcycle Grand Prix was reinstated in the schedule in 2007 and takes place at the Misano World Circuit, as does San Marino's round of the World Superbike Championship.

Manuel Poggiali is one of San Marino's most successful sportsmen. He has won two motorcycle World Championships, in 2001 with 125 cc bikes and in 2003 with 250 cc bikes. Another successful San Marino motorcycle rider is Alex De Angelis, a race winner in the 250 cc class, who is currently racing in the Moto2 class, with the country of San Marino itself being his main sponsor.

San Marino has a professional baseball team, T & A San Marino, which plays in the top division of Italian professional baseball, the Serie A1. It has participated in the European Cup tournament for the top European professional baseball teams several times, hosting the event in 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2007. It won the championship in 2006 and was a runner-up in 2010.

The long climb up to the top of San Marino has become a mecca for thousands of recreational road cyclists who train in nearby Misano every spring and autumn.

San Marino has had little success at the Olympic Games, winning no medals. At the 2004 and 2008 games, three clay target shooters achieved the highest positions. In this sport, San Marino also hosted a competition in the 2009 ISSF World Cup.

Cuisine

The cuisine of San Marino is strongly similar to Italian, especially that of the adjoining Emilia-Romagna and Marche regions, but it has a number of its own unique dishes and products. Its best known is probably the Torta Tre Monti ("Cake of the Three Mountains" or "Cake of the Three Towers"), a wafer layered cake covered in chocolate depicting The Three Towers of San Marino. The country also has a small wine industry.

LGBT

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in San Marino may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in San Marino, but households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples. The total ban on homosexuality was abolished in San Marino in 1864. In 1974, Parliament passed a new penal code containing Article 274, punishing with imprisonment from three months to one year those "regularly committing lustful acts with a person of the same sex, if from that act public scandal is derived". Article 274 was subsequently repealed in September 2004.

UNESCO

The site “San Marino: Historic Centre and Mount Titano” has become part of the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2008. The decision was taken during the 32nd Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee composed of 21 Countries convened in Québec, Canada.

Music

The country has a long and rich musical tradition, closely linked to that of Italy, but which is also highly independent in itself. In the 17th century, composers like the Sammarinese Francesco Maria Marini di Pesaro wrote some of the finest pieces of the era.

San Marino entered the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time, in 2008, with the band, Miodio, singing "Complice". The group failed to make it to the final from the first semi-final and finished 19th out of a field of 19 with 5 points. They came behind Estonia's Kreisiraadio who came 18th with 8 points. San Marino gave its first ever highest (12) points to Greece. In 2011 San Marino decided to come back to the Eurovision Song Contest with Senit singing the song "Stand By". She finished 16th in a field of 19 in the semi-final, coming behind Croatia's Daria Kinzer with the song "Celebrate" and coming in front of Norway's Stella Mwangi, who sang "Haba Haba". In the final voting, San Marino gave their 12 points to Raphael Gualazzi and his song "Madness Of Love" from Italy.

Public holidays and festivals

San Marino is an enclave in Italy, on the border between the regioni of Emilia Romagna and Marche and about 10 km (6.21 mi) from the Adriatic coast at Rimini. Its topography is dominated by the Apennine mountain range, and it has a rugged terrain. The highest point in the country, the summit of Monte Titano, is situated at 749 m (2,457 ft) above sea level. There are no bodies of water of any significant size. San Marino is the third smallest country in Europe, with only Vatican City and Monaco being smaller. San Marino has no natural level ground; it is entirely composed of hilly terrain.

Climate

The climate is Mediterranean with continental influences, having warm summers and cool winters. The National Centre of Meteorology and Climatology of San Marino provides local forecasts.